World Cup 2018: 5 things we learnt from Sweden’s win over South Korea

A second half penalty gave Sweden a 1-0 win over South Korea in Group F of World Cup 2018.

An Andreas Granqvist penalty was enough for Sweden to beat South Korea in a Group F clash of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

These are five things we learnt from the game.

 

1. Sweden unbeaten against South Korea

With the 1-0 win over South Korea on Monday, Sweden are now unbeaten in all of their five previous meetings with their Asian counterparts.

In these five meetings, Sweden have won three and drawn two.

2. Rare World Cup opening game win

Before the 1-0 win over South Korea on Monday, Sweden have not won the first game of a World Cup tournament since 1958 when they beat Mexico as host. 

They had drawn five and lost two since then before Monday’s win.

3. End of winning start for South Korea

Monday’s defeat to Sweden means that South Korea have now lost an opening match at a World Cup for the first time since 1998.

Since a 3-1 loss to Mexico in 1998, South Korea won three and drew one of their opening games of a World Cup.

4. Lack of firepower

South Korea did not register a shot on target in the whole 90 minutes against Sweden, joining Saudi Arabia as the only country without a shot on target in World Cup 2018.

5. A rare penalty for Sweden

Granqvist’s goal in the win over South Korea was Sweden’s first penalty scored in the World Cup since 2002.

In 2002 it was Henrik Larsson that netted a penalty in a 2-1 win over Nigeria in the Group state.